Colin and Me
by Madame BonBons
Summary: 'The first time he takes her photograph is in Fourth Year. The last time is when he is about to die.'  Because whether we like it or not, some die and some survive. One-shot.


**AN: Another one. Reviews are much appreciated.**

**I seem to be on a roll with Lavender second-person one-shots and hopefully this is alright. My mum cried when she read it.**

_**Disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer**_

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><p>The first time he takes your photo is in Fourth Year. You are leaning down into the lake and you hear the click of a camera.<p>

Colin's eager young face is staring into the depths and you look back at him with a smile. It is the first time you really even look at him. His teeth are a little too big for his face, same with his ears and you knew if you had been with Parvati you would have giggled and cooed over how sweet he was.

He comes up to you a couple of weeks later, and asks if he can keep it. He has accidentally taken a picture of your reflection and hair as he was taking a picture down into the lake.

You just smile, nod and walk off, a little puzzled why little Colin Creevey is asking you for permission. It's his photo after all, and you have always loved having photos of yourself taken.

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><p>The next one is on the train in sixth year. It is an accident, and you just walk into his compartment by mistake as he is taking a picture of the compartment door.<p>

You laugh and apologise and he mock glares at you. It's strange because he's so adorable and you've never actually talked to him before. His little brother Dennis is there too, eating a Chocolate Frog and smiling shyly at the pretty girl in the doorway.

You give them both a wave and walk into your compartment with Parvati and the Hufflepuff girls and never talk about what has just happened. It is not cool to be seen with a dorky guy a year younger than you.

It's a while till he takes your picture again. Actually, its one day after you and Ron have broken up, and you're down by the Lake with Parvati. He comes along, snapping pictures left and right, and you lift your hand in greeting, even though your eyes are puffy from crying. Parvati elbows you in the ribs but it's too late. He comes over and flops down in the long grass too and then he looks over, stands up and takes a picture of you and Parvati lying down in the grass and staring up at the heavens.

Parvati is annoyed, but you're not. Colin doesn't do creepy stalker, you've never met a nicer guy, you need something to be happy about and he is a brilliant photographer. (You saw him charming one of his brother and it was beautiful.)

After that, you often come down to the lake, and just sit there, usually under a tree. Colin joins you too.

You become friends, and suddenly he's asking if he can take pictures of you in different poses and locations. You're his muse, he tells you one day.

So you do it. There are pictures of you hanging from a tree, lying in the grass, walking into the lake, sitting in corridors. And as this happens, you talk about life, love and everything under the sun.

He tells you that you could be a model. You tell him he could be a professional photographer – or whatever they are called in the Muggle world. You both laugh.

It becomes a ritual in a way. You allow him to see inside your soul, posing and letting him past your pretty girl boundaries. He lets you in by showing you his pictures and slowly you can't imagine life –especially at Hogwarts – without him.

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><p>Seventh Year dawns a new age, and you and Parvati are so, so scared.<p>

And then you walk down the corridor and see Colin and Dennis cowed in a corridor one afternoon. The Carrows are cornering them and asking what type of blood they have.

They are Muggle-born.

And so you decide to do something that could get you killed, and you are a little proud, because _finally_ you are being a Gryffindor.

"They're my half-brothers." You blurt out. They are not suspicious, and McGonagall steps in too, and you develop a back story. Your father walked out when you were born, and then took up a Muggle life-style, marrying Colin and Dennis' mother.

Surprisingly, the Carrows believe your story.

The next photos Colin takes of you are to solidify your story. They are "family photographs" and Colin puts some charms on to make you all look younger.

And then it is time for the nightmare to begin.

He doesn't take many photos of you during that year. In fact it is like he doesn't want to take photos at all. Until the Room of Requirement.

You are sitting against the wall, and he just snaps a picture of you. And you smile for the first time in a long time.

And then there are more again, as both of you take each other's minds off the battle raging around the walls.

He takes a photo of your eye, and then your mouth blowing a kiss at the camera.

And then there are the ones of you plaiting Parvati's hair, and laughing as you push her off a bench.

* * *

><p>The Battle comes to Hogwarts, and you are beside yourself with worry.<p>

You see him one last time, and you tell him to stay safe so you can be his model. He tells you he has to because he is going to help you with your career and you are going to help him with his. Just in case though, he says "Love you Lav."

Just as you leave the room, you turn back, and at that very moment he takes a picture.

And then you leave, a small smile on your face.

* * *

><p>You wake up in a white room, in a white bed, and all you can see is a white ceiling and bright lights shining down.<p>

And then you hear the voices.

"Dennis, we must go."

"Mum, I'm not leaving. Lavender has to wake up. Colin would have wanted her there."

It's Dennis' voice! And my goodness, you are so glad to hear that voice. He truly is a brother to you and you are so relieved that he isn't hurt.

And you are just waiting for Colin's voice to pipe in, reprimanding his mother. But it doesn't. And suddenly you are not so happy to be hearing Dennis' voice.

An Irish voice breaks the silence, and you recognise it is Seamus. So he is also alive.

And then you remember. Remember Parvati falling, and you running up stairs until you are on balcony and then falling and then pain. And then nothing.

You open your eyes, and there is Seamus in the doorway, holding a bunch of lilies, your favourite. And then there is Dennis, sitting in a chair beside your bed, his mother behind him.

"Denny." You manage to croak out, and he looks up and latches onto you, sobbing into your hospital gown. Your arm screams out in pain and you realise that you are injured.

"Where's Col?" You ask him quietly, and he starts crying even more.

And then you start crying. Anyone looking at the scene would have mistaken it for a young boy so happy that his sister was alive and breathing, with a mother and boyfriend looking on quietly.

How far from the truth.

His is the only funeral you go to that you are actually truly present at - you missed Parvati's because of your injuries. You sit in the front row, clutching Dennis' hand tightly and replaying the last time you saw Colin alive over and over again.

If only you had made sure he was going to be safe. Hindsight is not a beautiful thing when it causes you to realise that the dead are dead because people didn't help, you realise.

And then you leave. You move to a quiet place in the countryside, where people will not judge you for your scars on your neck, arms, chest and back. Somewhere where you can grieve and then mend.

And then the letter comes.

It is from Dennis, and you almost cry looking at the handwriting, because he does his A's and g's exactly how Colin did.

He is asking you to go to an art gallery for an exhibition opening, and you realise that it has been almost a year since the Battle.

So you go.

Inside the front entry-way is a group of people who you haven't contacted since the year previous. You hold your head high, and display your scars like a badge of pride. And Dean and Seamus and the others hug you so tightly that you can't breathe. You almost forget that this group is missing some people. Almost.

And then Dennis gets up, and you truly can't breathe.

"My brother, Colin, was one of the people who passed away last year. He was a brave young man, and .." he stops talking, looking down and clenching his jaw. You look at him and then stride up to the front, before giving him a hug, ignoring the gasps as people comment on your outfit. Because you are wearing a strapless dress with a very low back, which curves around under your chest to show half of your stomach and your waist. It curves around your scars, making them the focus point. You are proud of them.

Dennis starts talking again.

"Col loved taking photos, and he was bloody good at it too. And so a few months ago, when I looked through his photos I realised they needed to be show. I saw that a lot of them were of this young lady standing beside me," he gestures to you, and the audience politely claps, although most are whispering to each other about how you got such terrible scars.

"Some of them were so raw and exquisite that I knew I had to show them to you. So, I am here tonight to open Colin's only exhibition, Lavender Brown and Me."

And he leads you through to a room.

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><p>And it's beautiful yet horrible. Because there on the walls are pictures Colin has taken of you. There is the lake picture, and then some of the ones from out on the grounds. Your eye and eyelid stare back at you as you walk around the room and stop at a group of four of Parvati and you. You stroke the frames and look down at the floor and wipe away the tears in your eyes.<p>

Parvati is gone, but she is in the pictures, her whole spirit and personality captured in film and you are so grateful.

And then, there are some that you never knew he had taken. There is one of you crying in the corridor (it was after you saw some first years being tortured) and it sends a shockwave so powerful through you that you have to clutch Dennis' arm for support.

And then you get to the last wall. A title from above the row of four pictures is titled _'love in the time of war'_. The first is a picture of Parvati, you, and most of the other Gryffindors. Colin had wanted a picture, so that once everything was over, he could look back at it.

The next is one you had no idea had been taken. You are sitting in a hammock in the Room of Requirement, and Seamus is beside you placing a kiss on your forehead. Your eyes are shut and there is a small smile on your face.

Then there is a wizard photograph of Dennis, Colin and you. It was one of the photographs you had to make quickly, and in it, Colin is pulling at the ribbon in your hair, while Dennis is laughing at a joke someone has made. You grab them both and plant a kiss on each of their cheeks before you all smile happily at the camera. It is one of the only wizard photos in the room.

You don't want to get to the last photograph. There is an inscription below it with the words 'This was the last picture Colin ever took. RIP Colin. We love you.'

It is the photograph of you looking back at him, and this time you clap your hand to your mouth and bend over, choking and wailing so much that people are probably embarrassed by you. It is the last time you saw him and it brings all of the memories back from that night and that horrible year. Dennis has his hands in his hair and he walks away, mumbling something about a bathroom. And it's so sad because you look so pretty in the photograph, and there are so many emotions that make you want to cry, throw up and laugh all at the same time.

Seamus comes over and pulls you up, holding you close so you don't fall, and you take deep, steadying breaths to calm yourself.

You see other people in the room wiping tears from their eyes. There are Padma and Dean holding each other, near the photos of Parvati and Harry, Ron and Hermione standing beside the one of you blowing a kiss at the camera. You feel Seamus press his lips to your hair and the irony of the situation causes you to cry again.

* * *

><p>The exhibition is a huge success, and you stay behind to help Dennis and his family. There is space on a wall and you can't help but feel that the exhibition is missing one picture. You tell Dennis, and he nods and picks up a camera, indicating for you to stand by the wall.<p>

You do, and you place you clean arm up and over your face, turning your head to expose your massacred neck. You hear the click, and you know it's the one that Colin never took.

By the morning, a new addition is on the empty wall by the doorway. It is in black and white, showing your scars, and hiding your beauty, and very faintly, you can see your tattoo curling down your raised arm.

You know Seamus and a lot of the others have a similar one somewhere on them, and it was actually Neville who had suggested it straight after the last funeral. It is a way to remember the torture you went through under the Carrows and a way to welcome the future.

It reads 'Bring it on.'

And you know that somewhere, Colin will be smiling.


End file.
